


Cruel Summer

by littlestbandmerchshop



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24015496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlestbandmerchshop/pseuds/littlestbandmerchshop
Summary: Summer of 1993 was a very crazy summer for the Losers. They had just finished their junior year of high school, and couldn’t wait to be seniors. They all had dreams of going to college and moving out of Derry as fast as they possibly could. But before they could do that, they had to survive one cruel summer....//teenage losers fic
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Reddie - Relationship, Richie Tozier/Eddie Kaspbrak
Kudos: 5





	1. Calm Before the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> i’m not a writer but i thought of this concept and couldn’t let it get away

Stanley woke up in a cold sweat at 8:34am, rushing out of bed, getting dressed and brushing his teeth at the same time. He ran down the stairs with one shoe on and ran out the door with all of his books in his arms. He couldn’t believe he was going to be late on the last day of school.

Eddie waited for Stan at the front of the school to let him in. The school locked the doors at 8:30... Stan was never this late before.

“Stan! Oversleep?” Eddie shouted as Stan finally got his bike locked and shoved the key in his backpack.

“Shut the fuck up, Kaspbrak.” Stan panted in response. “I don’t know what happened. I must’ve not set my alarm last night.” His breath was finally getting back to normal.

The pair made their way to the classroom they were supposed to be in exactly 40 minutes ago. They were definitely getting their asses chewed out for this one.

Beverly was stalling for them as they made their way into the crowded classroom.

“Kaspbrak. Late again.” The teacher spat. “Uris, this is surprising for you. I will excuse this only because it is the last day of the school year, but don’t think I will let this slide next year.” Stan and Eddie let out audible sighs at this.

As if Eddie would be with nasty Mrs. Carrigan again. He hated her with a passion, and not because she called Richie lazy last year and threatened to call his mother on him for calling certain historical figures gay. That’s not why at all.

Speaking of Richie, Eddie hadn’t seen him in a couple of days. This wasn’t uncommon for Richie to disappear, especially since he has so much going on with AP finals and his science club was wrapping up their projects for the year.

Richie was a class clown, sure, but he was NOT stupid. Rather, the opposite.

Beverly raised her hand to answer another question about the industrial revolution. Something important probably.

—

After school let out, Ben greeted the three of the aforementioned losers with smiles and high fives, because they were finally done with school for the year. It was officially summer.

Eddie hugged Ben tightly and smacked his back harshly.

“We did it men. We’re seniors. Kind of.” Eddie announced.

Beverly and Stanley laughed roughly at Eddie’s antics. The four of them started toward their spot out by one of the lakes at the edge of town. Beverly distantly wondered where Bill was.

She let it slip her mind as Stanley started complaining about the football players saying rude things about him bringing his torah to school one day. She felt bad. She always felt bad.

—

Richie worked on the finishing touches to his final science project of the year. It was approximately 4:30 in the afternoon. Everyone was long gone from the school, as he should’ve been, and he knew no one would be here to see said project until next year anyway, but he wanted to feel accomplished.

Richie heard footsteps approaching the science lab. Who could that be? Richie thought to himself, everyone should be gone.

Richie grabbed his backpack and started to make his way out of the lab, turning the lights off behind him. He looked down the hall both ways, before making his way down toward the exit. Richie thought maybe he’d been hearing things that weren’t there.

Until, a voice, almost like a whisper sounded right behind him. He turned his head around so fast his glasses almost fell off of his face. No one there.

Richie’s heart rate was so high, he thought for sure who-or what-ever was tormenting him right now could hear his heart through his chest.

“BOO!” A booming voice echoed through the halls of the now empty Derry High.

Richie turned around and his best friend Bill was standing behind him laughing. 

“Dude, I got you!” Bill cackled.

“What the actual fuck, man? I just shit myself!” Richie’s breath and heart were at the same speed. “Fuck!” Richie exclaimed once more.

“Sorry, man, I thought it’d be funny.” Bill was still chuckling lightly, stroking Richie’s shoulder to calm him down.

“It’s not enough that I have anxiety already, you gotta give me a fucking heart attack?” Richie chuckled back at Bill as they started making their way down the hall again.

“Sorry, again dude.” Bill said genuinely.

”It’s fine, asshole.” Richie laughed.

—

“Hey, Bill, how’d you do that whisper thing?” Richie asked as they were almost to the losers hangout spot.

“What whisper thing?” Bill asked, confused.

“You know,” Richie started, “before you scared me in the hall, I heard whispers behind me. I turned around, then you scared me.” Richie explained.

“That wasn’t me. The janitor told me you were still inside. He let me in, and I was walking toward the science lab and just ran into you over there. If you had been turned the other way, I wouldn’t have been able to scare you.” Bill spoke softly, stuttering gently within his sentences.

His stutter was getting so much better these last years. He had been going to speech therapy after Georgie passed away and it had helped him so much. 

“That’s... odd. I really heard something—“

“Hey, fuckers!” Eddie’s booming voice from the lake interrupted Richie’s thought. 

Richie dropped his backpack and ran to Eddie to hug him tighter than he had ever before. “Dude, that’s embarrassing. What’s it been? Three days? Come on.” Eddie said jokingly, letting go of Richie after a few seconds.

It was pretty obvious to Beverly and Bill that Richie and Eddie were basically in love but didn’t know it yet, but that was for a different time.

Bill and Ben hugged next, finally getting to see each other after being in the exact opposite classes for 8 months. 

“Where’s Mike?” Bev asked, side-hugging Richie.

“Called him last night. He said he’s not done with school work for another couple days but he said he’d be here tonight to celebrate.”

The group gathered around a campfire and told stories about the school year and the summer prior. 

Mike showed up just before sunset. He brought marshmallows and chocolate for the boys, and some fruit for Bev. She hated chocolate. Richie said it’s because she’s possessed, but she wouldn’t say the real reason.

Beverly’s father always used to gave Beverly chocolate to eat after he hit her to apologize. But it just made the chocolate bitter.

But Bev didn’t want to tell her friends how bad it had gotten.

Richie told science stories, Ben told marching band stories, Stan and Mike were all about watching TV after school, and Eddie and Bill always tutored after school.

Beverly loves going out when it was nice out and either swimming or biking. She loved getting out and exercising and just existing in nature.

—

At around 11 that evening, everyone decided it was time to head home. Their parents would worry if they were put too late. So they headed their separate ways for the night.

They all knew this was just the beginning of their summer, but they had no idea what they were in for.


	2. Hurricane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie is thinking a lot about senior year...

Richie’s eyes fluttered open at the sound of birds chirping outside his window. Loud and obnoxious when it’s 7am and you didn’t get to sleep until 2am the previous night.

Richie couldn’t stop his mind from churning out thoughts the night before. His thoughts screamed at him for being such an idiot. 

Richie was having so much trouble with his sexuality lately. He knew that you could be gay, and you could be straight, but people made fun of you for being gay.

As hard as he tried to push that down, there was still a lingering thought in his mind about the boys he knew. They were all crushing on girls or dating girls, and the one time he tried to bring this up to Bill, the topic was immediately dismissed with something unrelated happening on the television.

Sex wasn’t really something he thought about often because he didn’t know that much about it, but when he did, his mind would wander from girls in bikinis, to boys in speedos, and he immediately stopped thinking altogether.

Abstinence. That was the cool thing to do, Richie thought to himself the last time he thought about a man taking off his shirt in front of him.

But here he was, laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, faced with the reality that he just didn’t like girls that much.

Don’t get me wrong, he loved Beverly, she was like his sister. And Winona Ryder. She was so pretty.

But, almost any other woman he could imagine just didn’t spark anything in him like Richard Gere in Pretty Woman.

Or Eddie.

No. He was NOT going down that road again.

Richie was just getting comfortable liking boys, but his best friend? No, that was too much. 

Richie loved his friends, and he knew they would support him in anything he did, but this was big, almost as big as when Beverly wanted to pierce her nose.

Nothing was as big of a deal as that was, Richie snickered to himself.

Life shouldn’t be this difficult, it should be simple, like one girl, marry her, have kids, die. The end.

But now Richie was faced with some kind of beast he didn’t even know how to start fighting. The thoughts creeping into his mind of a different shape and size than they ever had been before.

This felt as though he was learning a new language, but from himself.

No one could know. If he in fact decided that this is what he wanted for himself.

No one could know that he liked boys. Or that—

No, that’s way too much to deal with right now.

So Richie sat up in his bed and looked himself in his side table mirror.

“Say it, you pussy.” Richie whispered to himself.

Shaky breaths escaped his throat as his hands began to sweat.

“I’m... No, I like— No that’s not good.” Richie was stuttering almost as bad as Bill.

He had to say it out loud or it didn’t count. It wasn’t real if the words didn’t come from him.

“I’m gay?” Richie whispered. He felt his stomach drop at hearing his own voice say that word. 

He’s said it before. About Ben Franklin and Queen Elizabeth. But himself? Shit, this was hard.

“I’m gay. I’m into— No, I like boys.” Richie’s voice was so low, so no one in his house could hear him. But he said it, so it’s real.

—

Bill’s knuckles tatted against the hardwood of Richie’s front door. The mussed-haired boy with glasses opened the door with a lopsided grin.

“Billy!” Richie spoke with a shaky voice. Bill knew immediately something was up.

”Rich. What’s going on?” Bill asked roughly. Richie let Bill inside, and led him upstairs to his room.

”I need to talk to you about something.” Richie spoke softly, after quietly shutting his door.

”Anything.” Bill replied gently. He loved Richie like a brother and knew that whatever he was about to say was nothing to worry about. He could handle it.

A deep breath exited Richie’s throat.

”I think I might be...” Richie’s breath was shaky. “No, I know I am...” Richie sat down in his desk chair and ran his long fingers through his hair.

Bill was starting to get worried. His heart rate nearly skyrocketed. “Richie, you’re scaring me.”

”Sorry, I’m just nervous. This is big news, and i’m just not used to it, you know?” Richie’s voice was smoother this time. “I’m gay.” Richie spoke quietly, but surely.

Bill chuckled, thinking he was joking. “You for real, Rich?” Bill started to stand up. “Not funny, man.”

”Yeah. I’m serious...” Richie’s voice broke, nearly shedding a tear at Bill’s response.

Bill stopped, staring at Richie. His face bright red from embarrassment. “Rich, I’m sorry, I didn’t—“

”No, I’m just— This is just so new to me. I’m still getting used to it, but I wanted to tell you first.” Richie’s face was wet from silent tears rolling down his face.

”Richie, that’s... That’s incredible, dude. I’m so happy for you.” Bill sat on the armrest of Richie’s desk chair and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. “Thank you for trusting me so much.” Bill gave Richie a small, gentle kiss on his forehead.

”Dude, I’m gay but I’m not a pussy.” Richie laughed heartily, wiping his eyes dry.

”Fuck you, Rich.” Bill chuckled, shoving Richie off of his chair.

Richie knew Bill would be kind, but he didn’t think he would still love him the same way, but he was so, so grateful that he did.

The pair spent the rest of the evening playing video games and laughing like they always did. Bill had the occasional question or comment, but it was only out of love and respect. Bill was 100% on board with this.

At one point he even asked if he could be Richie’s best man at his gay wedding. Richie obviously said yes.

Senior year was going to be so much better than Richie originally thought.


	3. You Make Me Feel Safe (For the First Time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beverly starts reflecting on her past, and focusing on her future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would die for beverly marsh okay?

Beverly picked at her fingernails, chipping the nail polish off that she painted less than a week prior. Her mind wandering through the mess that was her psyche.

She adjusted her sunglasses as the sun poked through the clouds again. It was approximately 10am as she laid, sunbathing by the quarry.

She pictured her soul, the way she saw it was a cloud of smoke floating throughout the crossfire of wars. A beam of light ceasing fire within her mind. She pictures a young man, retrieving her soul from the clutches of the war in her innermost imagination.

The sunlight shone on Beverly’s skin as her mind began to race. In Bev’s imagination this young boy begins to change this grimy world into a shiny, bright, and new land to reside in.

Dark turns into light, and all bad things turn good. The boy begins to walk closer to Beverly, his face becoming clearer. He spoke softly into her ear—

“Marsh!!” Richie’s booming voice ripped Beverly from her daydream. 

“What the actual fuck, Tozier?” Beverly sat upright as Richie ran closer to her spot by the quarry.

“Did I scare you?” Richie asked, chuckling smugly. “Yes, jackass.” Beverly laughed back at him.

“Whatcha doing out here by yourself? It’s too early to be out anyway.” Richie often spoke before he thought, especially in his late teen years. 

“Rich, my dad starts drinking at 6am. So I get out of there as early as possible.” Beverly stated coldly. 

Richie’s face went red. “Sorry, Bev. I didn’t mean it like that—“ Richie cut himself off. “I’m sorry.” His voice cracked slightly at that.

“You of all people should understand.” Bev laid back down on her towel, sighing gently.

“I know, I’m sorry.” Richie knew exactly how it felt to have your dad punch you in the face after drinking an entire six pack of beer by himself, so when he stuck his entire fist in his mouth, he really felt the sting from being selfish and ignorant.

“It’s fine.” Beverly spoke, calmly, but genuinely. The one thing Richie didn’t understand was the touching.

Your father shouldn’t graze your cheek or softly run his fingers through your hair. He definitely shouldn’t sneak into your room at night and tell you that if you ever tell anyone he’ll make sure you never talk again.

No one knew about that one, though. Beverly was still in denial.

“Anyway, “ Richie started, laying down next to Beverly, “How’s your summer tan going?”

“Ah, that is going perfectly fine. I doubt I’ll get any real color though. I’m a fucking ginger, so i’m cursed with transparent skin.” Beverly snickered softly to Richie laying casually by her side.

Bev’s eyes fluttered shut once more behind her tinted sunglasses, her mind wandering again. Her thoughts were cloudy and her daydreams fluid, but no one could take them away from her. 

Beverly had a crush on Bill, everyone knew this, especially Richie, but in the long run, she hardly knew how the logistics of that would work out for her. College was on the horizon and a life with Bill Denbrough seemed off and distant in terms of reality. This felt as if it was dangerous to Beverly, and she’d be lying if she said that didn’t entice her, but more so scared her. 

”You know, Marsh, I can’t help but feel you thinking hard.” Richie said, eyes closed and smirk present in his voice. 

Beverly felt slightly embarrassed at this. “I’m just thinking about my future... College, mostly.” She lied, hoping that would appease Richie. She should’ve known better.

”Liar. I know you’re thinking about Bill.” Richie sighed, “Bev, it’s easy to love those out of your reach, trust me, but what’s easy isn’t always what’s right.” Richie’s voice was tender and soft, a rare sight. 

”What are you trying to say?” Bev turned her head to look at Richie. “I just think that you should re-evaluate. Nothing is ever as easy as it seems, but at the same time, it’s also so rewarding when it turns out the way you hoped, or sometimes, even better than you hoped.” Richie was never so sincere with Bev, and she appreciated it wholeheartedly. 

”I think I understand. Thanks, Rich.” Bev said gently, stroking Richie’s forearm in acceptance of his words. Her mind wandered even further. Maybe the boy in her daydreams wasn’t Bill, maybe it was someone else. She couldn’t be sure.

”Can I be honest with you?” Richie asked coolly, turning his body toward Bev. “Of course, why would you ever think otherwise?” She chuckled.

”I’m not used to being vulnerable and giving such raw advice. But since this is already a good time for opening wounds, I thought I would be upfront with you.” Richie offered, Beverly nodded.

Richie sighed, letting his shaky breath out all at once. His heart rate spiked once more. “I’m gay.” He said, for the second time that week. Hard, but rewarding, just like he had mentioned before, to Beverly.

Beverly couldn’t help but laugh softly, her smile taking up her entire face. “Rich, I know.” She giggled slightly, bringing Richie in for a hug. “I’m glad you’re coming to terms with it.”

Richie pulled away from the hug, “You-You know?” Richie was confused and slightly offended, “What do you mean, you know?”

”You’ve never had a girlfriend, you never talk about girls, you are constantly saying how you’d rather hang out with us than try to date, it’s just obvious to those who pay attention, Tozier. I don’t know why you thought it was a secret, but I’m glad you’re finally aware.” Beverly was smiled widely and squeezing Richie’s hand as she spoke calmly.

”I cant believe you knew I was gay before I did.” Richie wasn’t angry or sad at this, just confused as to how it was so obvious to Beverly but not to himself. He smiled.

”Okay, well... I think you’re making a mistake going after Bill.” Richie said coldly, his words sending icy shivers down Beverly’s spine. “Wh-“ Beverly choked, “Rich, what are you saying?” she pulled away, sitting up. “I’m not saying anything bad, Bev... I’m just trying to be helpful. Bill isn’t right for you.” His words trailed off slightly, his mind racing violently to last summer when Ben was high on Richie’s weed and confessed that he was hopelessly in love with Beverly Marsh.

”Well then, give me a reason. I cant just stop the way I feel. You should understand that.” Beverly’s eyes started to well up.

”I... I know, I’m sorry. But he doesn’t like you back. He’s my best friend, I know him better than anyone else. He doesn’t like you. I’m... I’m so sorry.” Richie’s eyes closed, gentle and soft words forming in the beautiful red lips that belonged to Richie. “Don’t be sorry... I always had a feeling.” She whispered, her cheeks started to pink, a single tear falling down her left cheek.

Beverly’s hands reached up and covered her eyes, tears begging to be released and Beverly trying her hardest to stop them. Richie pulled Beverly into his arms and stroked her back. He shushed her softly, caressing her gently as she started to calm down.

Beverly apologized profusely, pushing away from Richie’s arms, her eyes drying slowly, her lips quivering delicately, as Richie watched her, regretting every ill word he ever said.

”You don’t have to apologize for being sad. It’s okay. Being vulnerable is good.” Richie’s words danced out of his mouth chastely, wishing he had never spoken in the first place.

”I know. I just wish I wasn’t so naive.” Beverly’s eyes stayed low, hanging within the small space her eyelids blinking softly left.

The pair sat in comfortable silence for awhile, letting the afternoon wash over them coolly and slowly. The hours passed by as if nothing really mattered, because their responsibilities were nonexistent at that point. They seemed to be floating within a space and time that barely existed, like being in the grocery store at 1am... They laid in each other’s presence, Richie falling asleep around noon, and Beverly waking him up just before 2.

It was time to jump back into the harsh winter that was their reality. Richie had other friends to tell his news to, and Beverly had to clean the visual of sadness from her face before going back home.


End file.
